davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
aritntors. are the cause Of the Immense dIssatis.

NsitHpOfS are lie CdUSe o. tiie illiiiituSS utSsatinr
faction among the working people.
oh, you people who speak thus. can you3aot, or
Will you not read the signs of the. times2 Do you
not see that the clouds on the social armament
are chickering's Are You not, for instance, aware
that the control of industry and of the means Of
transportation, etc. is constantly concentrating
In fewer hands; that the monopolists, |. e., the
ones among them; that s~,trtists,' ''pools,n and
other combinations are being formed in order to
more thoroughly and systematically fleece the
people,, that under the present system the de-
yelopmcnt of technic and machinery Is from year
to year throwing more worklnen on the wayside;
that in some parts of this great and fertile land q
majority of the farmers are obliged to mortgage
their homes in order to satisfy the greed Of mon
strous corporations; that, in short, the rich are
constantly growing richer and the poor poorer.
Yes, and do you not comprehend that all these
evils find their origin in the present institution OF
society which allows one portion of the human
race to build fortunes upon the misfortunes OF
others-to enslave their fellow mens
Instead of trying to remedy these evils, and in
stead of ascertaining just what the cause Of the
widening dissatisfaction is, the ruling classes.
through their mouthpieces-press, pulpit, etc.
defame and misrepresent the character, teach
ings and motives of the advocates of social recon-
strGction, and use the rifle and the club on them,
and, If the opportunity is favorable, send them to
the gallows and prisons, VIII this do any goody
AS an answer i may as well quote the following
words with which Benjamin Franklin closed his
satlrlcai essay, Rules for Reducing u Great EN-
pire to a Small One which he dedicated to the
English government in 17f6: suppose all their
(the kickers9 complaints to be invented and pro-
yoii could catch and hang all would be quiet.
Catch and hang a few accordingly aud the blood
OF tie martyrs shall work miracles in favor OF
your purpose" q. e., your own ruin.
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12

The Chicago groups were known as the
North Side, the Northwest Side, the Ameri-
can, the Karl Marx, the Freiheit, tho South
west Side and Jefferson No. /. Schwab,
Neebe and Lingg belonged to the North Side
GROUP Engel and Fischer to the Northwest
Side, and Spies, Parsons and Fielden to the
American. There was also an armed social
istic organization called the Lehr und Wehr-
Verein, whose members seem to have also
been members of the International '~'ggroups.''
but to nave been Of q higher rank.
The branch of the International Working
mems association which existed in Chicago
during 1885 and up to May 4, 1886, was a conn
pact, well disciplined organization, At the
head of it was a general or central commit
tee. Next to it came the Lehr und Wehr-
Yerein. Then came the EARNED sections" Of
the various groups and then came the un-
armed members of the N~groups.n
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
p,,eo,,s FISCHER,
ENGEL rr,! .vs, FrgLDEN,

Louis LngR, who Is convicted OF having
made the bombs, Is but "a years old and cannot
speak English. He Is said to have been expelled
from Germany, where be was born, for con.
spiracy.
Michael schweb is a native of Mannheim, Ger.
many, was born In 1858 and was educated In a
convent. Coming TO America In 1870, he worked
tor n time Mt the book binders trade. He became
connected with The Arbeiter Zeitung at the same
ttne as Spies.
George Engel was born in Cassel, Germany, In
1886, received a common school education, learned
The printers trade and came to America in 1879.
a year later he located In Chicago, where he soon
embraced Socialism and became an Anarchist,
He established the Northwest Group in 1885.
Adolph Fischer is about 80 years Of age and is a
German. he came to America when q lad and
learned She printers trade with his brothe:, who
published a German weekly at Nashville, Tenn.
Later Adolph edited and published The Little
Rock Ark) Stats Zeitung, which he sold in 1881.
Then he worked at his trade in st. Louis and Chi
cago. He sometimes accused Spies and Schwab
Of being too mild. and at one time established
Der Anarchist, a paper intended to supplant The
Arbeiter Zeitung.
Oscar Eeebe, who received a sentence of fifteen
years in the state prison, is also a middle aged
German,
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
JUST BEFORE THE TRAGEDY.
The evolution of the tragedy was curious.y


The evolution of the tragedy was curiously
regular.
First, as has been shown, these men taught
radical Socialism. Next, they organized dis
contented w~orkingmen to act more efficiently
in strikes. The usual trouble arose: s'scabs's
took the place of striking workmen, they
were attacked by the strikers, the police were
called on for protection and the inevitable
question was presented-shall we fghta The
Anarchists, in speech and in The Arbeiter
Zeitung, vehemently urged destructive
measures. They exhorted the strikers to
eight both the '.scabs'' and the police, gave
minute instructions how to use nitro-glycerfne
and manufacture bombs, and had EARNED
sections of their supporters who drilled
nightly and were instructed in the use Of
bombs,
At length it was boldly announced that the
Anarchists had 5000 armed and well drilled
revolutionists in Chicago, and it was proved
that they really had 5000 at this time, as was
sworn to during the trial. The Arbeiter lei
Jung and The Alarm published many such.
sentiments as these:
Daggers and r~eyolyers are easily to be gotten;
hand grenaaes are cheaply to be produced.
Will the workingnen supply themselves with
weapons, dynamite and prussic acidf
The workingmen ought TO take aim at every,
member of the militia.
And while thes writers acted with what
they probably considered canton. the sneak
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
rHE EArEEuL. NIGHr.

On the evening Of May 4 about 1900 people
assembled. The managers placed the wagon
on which the speakers were to stand a little
way up Desplaines street from the Hay
market, by the mouth of a convenient alley,
and at a point where they could have a full
view of the police as the latter advanced
from their Desplaines Street station. Mayor
Carter Harrison was in the crowd and ex-
pressed some surprise at the mildness of the
first speakers, Spies and Parsons. The crowd
was disappointed, too, and was fast melting
away. when Fielden took his stand in the
wagon. His most intimate English friends
could not have recognized ths mild Metho-
dist exhorter and laborer OF other days. His
frenzied defamation excited what remained
of the crowd, and their applause reacted on
him. 1t was testified at the trial that he
called for immediate action in these words:
Aimi Arm!i Throttle and kill the lawl
Then Inspector Bonfleld decided to dispense
the meeting. Seven companies of policemen,
IT'S men, in platoors reaching from curb to
curb, marched from their station OF Des-
PLANES street north TO the wagon. As they
drew near, Fielden is sworn To have shouted:
ssHere come the b~loodhounds; you do your
duty and I'll do miner
Capt. Ward, of the police, called out:
TIN the name of the people Of the state of
Illinois I command you to peaceably dis
persen
Fielden stepped down from the wagon ex-
claiming:
w are peacenblef'
It was claimed by the prosecution that the
word t'peaceablen was the signal agreed on.
There was dead silence for perhaps ten
seconds, the crowd slowly moving otf aud
the police standing firm, when a strange
fizzing sound was heard near the mouth OF
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
FIscHER's LETTER.

COOK COUNTY JAZZ, CHICAGO, Nov. 1, 1887.
To Mr.. r. j. oglesby, Governor of the State OF
DEAR siIn-I am aware That petitions arc being
circulated and signed by the general public ask.
Ing you 70 commute the sentence OF death which
was inflicted upon me by a criminal court of this
state. Anent this action of O sympathiziuo md
well meaning portion of the people, I soieinuly
declare THAT IL has not my sanction. AS a man Of
honor, as q man of conscience and as a man Of
pi1nclple, cannot accept mercy. lam not guilty
OF the charge in the indictment-of murder. r
am no murderer, and cannot apologize for an ac.
ton OF which know / nm innocent. And should
\ ASK mercy on account of my principles. which
/ honestly believe to be true and nob,ef No. I
an no hSpocrite, and have, therefore, no excuses
TO offer with regard to being an Anarchist, be-
cause the experiences of the past eighteen months
have only strengthened my convictions. The
question is, Am / responsible for the death of the
policemen at the Haymarket? and ] say no. nm
less you assert that every Abolitionist could have
p cen heid responsible for tho deeds of John
History repeats itself. As the powers that be
have at all times thought that they could stam
the progressive tide by exterminating a few
"kickers," SD do the ruling class of today imagine
that they can put q stop TO the movement of
labor emancipation by hanging u few Of its adyo-
Gates. Progress in its victorious march has had
70 overcome many obstacles which seemed in
the death of martyrs. The obstacles which bar
the road OF progress today seem to be invincih.e.
toq, but they will be overcome nevertheless. N
Az all Tunes when the coiftiition of society haz
oetome such that a large portion of the peopje
eomplained or the existing injustice, The ruling
but have said that the discomfort of the portion
OF the people in question was due only to the
.pernicious infiEencer oft'malicious apitators ~
Iooay, again, some people assert that the did
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12

~
struction of the two sections in the revised
statutes of Illinois chapter 3S, div. Q, sections
2 and 81, which abolish the previous distinc-
ton between principal and accessory, and
provide that any me who, mot being pres
sent, hath adyis+d ncouraged, aided or
Allotted, y shtI be considered as
principal and y ~ may be punished as
such, whether the principal is convicted or
not" On the 18th of September the court
rendered an opinion, which fills twenty-one
closely printed columns, and is an exhaustive
exposition of the law, fully confirming the
decision of the court below. And SO the pris-
oners were sentenced to be hanged on the
18th of November, 1887. Another hope re-
manned. Gen. Roger A. Pryor, Gen. Benja-
min F. Butler and Hon. Randolph Tucker were
employed as experts in constitutional law,
and an appeal made to the supreme court of
the United States, the chief allegation being
that the accused had not been tried by an
impartial jury as required by the national
constitution. The revised statutes of Illinois
permit the choice of q juryman who has
formed an opinion from reading newspaper
accounts of the case, provided he makes oath
that his opinion is not such as could not be
oyerthrown by evidence. The question of
the taking of a letter without warrant from
Spies desk was also brought up.
The supreme court of the United States
rendered its decision on the I'd of November,
holding, in brief, that the jury law of Illinois
does not c~ontravene any provision of the na-
tienal constitution, and that the question as
to whether the state constitution and laws
had been strictly observed was one for the
state courts alone. The court confined itself
very strictly to the case before it, entering
into the general questions raised only SO far
as absolutely necessary. But two points,
therefore, were passed upon in regard to the
amendments. The court held that the first
ten amendments limit the powers of the Fed
eral government, not the powers of q state
over its citizens; and that the Fourteenth
amendment has not changed the rule In that
respect. In all other matters the court holds
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
the maximum was

reached when 1882 Europeans landed in
the United States, immigration from Eng
land had declined II that from Ireland
fallen to a minimum; but from southern
Germany there was an immense increase,
while eastern Europe sent Poles, Bohemians,
Russians, Hungarians and their congeners by
tens OF thousands. In many of these people
hatred of government had become q heredi-
tary sentiment. Chicago became headquar-
tiers for the discontinued, and The Arbeiter
Zeitung workers Journal their organ. Then
sprung up in hat city the International
Workingmen's association. The platform or
declaration of principles of this organization,
as was testified to at the trial, urged that
stthe present system under which property is
owned by individuals should be destroyed,
and that all capital which has been produced
by labor should be transformed into COM
mon property The association was divi-
ded into ''groups,' of which there were
eighty in the United States in March, 1885,
located principally in the cities of Industry.
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12

The agitation growing out of the attempt
to enforce the eight hour law led directly to
the tragedy. AS early as MAY, 1884, the or
ganized w~orkingmen of Chicago gave notice
that on the LIST of May, 1856, they would in
sist upon the general observance of the law.
1t is not necessary to detail the numerous
strikes and occasional riots of the following
two years in various sections of the country;
suffice it, that each one was eagerly seized
upon by the anarchists as fresh proof that
capital was crushing labor.
On April IS, 1885, the new board of trade
building was formally opened; there was a
somewhat riotous popular demonstration
against it, and Fielden Il Parsons addressed
the assemblage in language more intiamma-
tory than ever before. In July, 1885, there
was a general strike of street car employees.
One riot was excited which was only
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12

suppressed by. the police with great difficulty.
In February, 1886, the worlsmen at The Nc
Cormick factory struck, and Pinkcf5on's
men were employed to defend the property,
and there was q riot. On May /, 1856, the
~workingmen of Chicago, with few excep-
tions, carried out their plan of a general
strike for an eight hour day. TIL strike was
well managed and partially successful. On
May 3 August Spies delivered a fierce philip
pic against the %non-union men still employed
at the Mccormick works, and there was an
encounter between the 'tscabs" and police on
one side and the strikers on the other. A
short and terrible fight occurred; several
men were killed and many more wounded in
various degrees. From the battle ground
August Spies hurried TO the Office of The
Arbeiter Zeitung, wrote and had printed and
distributed the noted revenge circular.
On May A there was rioting nearly all day
On Blue Island avenue, near the Mccormick
works. The First regiment was ordered to
be in readiness at its armory and the entire
police force was kept in instant readiness.
The Arbeiter Zeitung of that morning urged
destructive action, and the Anarchists were
busy among the strikers all day. Thousands
of copies of the following notice were scat
tered through the city:
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12

of Landecs,h central Germany; one of his early
piaythings was an old torture rack with which
the mobiles used to extort money from Jews or
regulate the peasants, and his fayorite haunt
In childhood was on the edge of a deep clasm
into which the robber barons used TO throw the
pretty girls of the village whom they had kid
mapped and of whom they had tired. There he
grew up, and thence he came to Americato teach
the Anarchistic doctrine, reaching the new world
In 1872 and Chicago a year later. There he
worked as an upholsterer for a number OF years.
He first showed an interest In the theorieA of
Socialism in 1875, and in 1877 Joined himself to the
Lehr und Weir Terein. He WIS attached to The
Arbeiter Zeitung in 1880 and succeeded Paul
Grottkau as editor in chief in 1884, Everybody
remembers the attachment that sprung up be-.
tween him and Miss Nina Van zandt during the
trial, and which resultedin their marriage .'by
proxy
Samuel Fielden was born in Todmorden, Ian
cashire, England, In 1S47. He grew up to be a
laborer and a Methodist field preacher. In 1883
he came to America, and soon located In Chicago,
where he joined the Liberal league In 1850; there
he met Spies and Parsons, and thereafter grew
rapidly into anarchial views. Save him and Par
sons, all the condemned are Germans,
Albert R Parsons is the only native American
among the condemned men. Born in Alabama
In 1913 and early left an orphan, he was reared
by his brother, who was afterwards the noted
Confederate general, w. IL. Parsons. He served
in the Confederate. artillery when but Ia years
old; but after the war he became a Repub-
ican, and in 1879 married a woman suspected
of having negro blood in her yeins,'' for which
his brother disowned him. Before this he had
been first a printer on The Galveston CTex) News
and late editor OF The Waco Utx.) Spectator.
Because of this marriage he was obliged to leave
Texas, and locating In Chicago he worked in
various printing offices. but after a time became
q professional labor agitator; w3s ut one time
master workman Of District Assembly "a, Knights
Of Labor, and was president of the trades as
sembly for three years. He was nominated for
the presidency by the Socialistic party in 1880, but
declined, as he was not then IS years of age. In
1888, at Pittsburg, he Helped frame the platform
of the international Working Peoples associa-
ton. he was named for city clerk of Chicago by
the Socialists in 1889, and became editor of The
Alarm, the organ Of the American Group" a
year later.
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12

was afterward
claimed, threw the
bomb, was among
those arrested, but
the evidence
against him was
not deemed sufh-
Gent to hold him
and he was re.
leased. He imrne-
diately left Ameri-
ca and is now sup.
posed to be in Ger
many. Adolph
Fischer was one of
the printers, and on
his person when ar
rpctpd yuara fApp5
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
APPEALS TO HIGHER COURTS.

The usual application for a new trial was
filed and the entire method of the trial re-
argued for several days. The application be-
ing refused, an appeal was taken 20 the
supreme court of Illinois, and once more the
whole case was thoroughly argued. 1t Is
needless to detail the legal steps; suffice it
that so much time was consumed that the
case did not reach the supreme court till
March II, 1887. Then Messrs. GrinnelI,
Walker, Ingham II Attorney General
Hunt, for the state, and Messrs. Black, Salo-
mon, Zeisler and Leonard SWEET, for the de-
Tense, discussed the issues as to whether the
court below had erred, whether the Anar-
chists had been legally condemned to death
for mere conspiracy, whether the jury was
properly constituted and many others.
h weight of argument before the
supreme court turned upon the proper con,
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
hi, friends. At the close, when asked by the

his friends. At the close, when asked by the
court If they had aught to say why sentence
of death should not be pronounced, they ell
made long addresses, those of Parsons and
Fielden being the best. That of Spies con
sisted of pleading and defiance, reasoning on
liberty and quotations from Scripture. In
the course of his remarks he spoke of Christ
as a Socialist. Schwab and Neebe gave ar
gumeiits against the regularity of the trial.
Fielder excited some establishment by say
ing: "The great Socialist, Jesus Christ, said
1900 years ago: Better that ninety-nine
guilty men should go UNPUBLISHED han that
one innocent man should suffer.m Judge
Gary then sentenced the seven men to be
hanged.
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
THE TRIAL.

retired at $50 p. M, and at 10 a. m. next
day, Aug. 90, returned a verdict of guilty
against all the defendants, with a sentence Of
fifteen years in the penitentiary for Oscar
lNeebe, and death for the other seven.
The trial began and ended with sensations.
On the first day A r. Parsons, who had
escaped and been in hiding, walked into the
courtroom, announced his voluntary sur.
render aud took his place in the dock with
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
poLIcN YrCTIMS.

~ NiSI ialIos
two miles and adeep prolonged roar, echoing
from the buildings-then appalling screams
and a volley of pistol shots. The smoke
lifted, and the ground appeared covered with
slain-but only for an instant. Two whole
companies of police had been thrown to the
ground, of whom one, Matthias j. began,
was instantly killed, six mortally wounded
and sixty others hurt in various degrees.
But the police rallied at once and with the
firmness and steadiness of veterans, they
sprang forward, employing their revolvers
into the flying crowd as they went, and fol-
lowing their shots with their clubs they
cleared the street in less than three minutes
OF all save the dead and wounded. From
alley, gutter and hallway came deep groans
and curses,
Is is estimated that twenty of the crowd
were killed and about 100 wounded. An An
archist named Kistler was killed by the
bomb. Besides Officer began, killed outright,
the policemen who died of their wounds were
j. j. Barrett, George Miller, Timothy Flani-
Ian, Michael Sheehan, Thomas Reddin and
Neil Hansen. After the dispersion of the
mob came the saddest scenes of the occasion.
The dead and wounded policemen were rap
idly conveyed to the station, the latter made
as comfortable as possible and surgeons
called; but not before their wives and near
relatives hurried there, for bad news flies
fast. The tears Of some, the sobs and loud
cries of others, the groans, the gashes, The
blood and mangled bodies-all these formed
q scene to wiring the hearts of the pitiful.
Within a few weeks Chicago had contributed
$4,000 for the care of the wounded police
and the relief of their families and those of
the dead.
The bomb used is said to have been of the
same pattern used to kill the czar Of Russia,
and is very well shown iii the initial letter
cut of this account. 1t was made of compo-
sition metal cups fastened together nearly in
the form of a sphere with a bolt and nut.
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12

in 1857, enlisted in
the Twelfth Illinois
at the outbreak Of
the war, and served
till the last Confed-
q had laid down
his arms. He went in
as a corporal and
came out a captain.
July o, 1867, he was
first enrolled as a po-
licenan, and in Oc-
tober, 1885, he was at
the head of the force.
In the army he was
10 days under fire
in battle or slSirmish.
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12
THE ANARCHISTS, SIDE

Perhaps the best possible summary of the
Anarchists defense of their action and their
belief is found in the letters addressed by the
to Governor oglesby, of Illinois,
extracts from which are given:
Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-11-12

On the day after the tragedy the police de-
Chicago and arrested every suspected man;
before morning many had been dragged from
their beds. Every u in The Arbeiter
zeitung Office was arrested: August Spies,
editor in chief; Christ Spies, his brother;
Michael Schwab, associate editor; Mrs. Eliz-
abeth May Holmes, editorial contributor;
eighteen printers, two reporters and two
messengers. Rudolph Schnaubelt, who, it